The Equilibrium of the Mountain Economy in the Apennines: The Regional Case of Abruzzo in the Kingdom of Naples (16th–19th Centuries)

This paper aims to illustrate the mountain’s ability to balance the economic system, deploying flexibility and creativity in response to external stresses on the local economy and market. In relation to the areas addressed in this volume, we will try to answer the question of whether or not the mountain economy of Abruzzo was an integrated economy according to the definition proposed by Gauro Coppola (1989, 1991) for the Italian Alps, as taken up and developed into the integrated peasant economy on the case of Early Modern western Slovenia by Aleksander Panjek (2011; 2014; 2015). To do so, a brief description of the characteristics of the Abruzzo Mountain economy may prove useful, namely an excursus through the non-agricultural activities producing revenue, the market orientation of this economy generally defined as a closed economy aiming for self-sufficiency, and its market-oriented activities and trade centres. Starting from here, it will be possible to shed light on the integration, flexibility, strength and resilience of this economy in the Early Modern Age.